Salzburg manifesto: The value of music and the right to play

Last week I had the honor of serving as Co-Chair, with Nicholas Kenyon, of a session at the Salzburg Global Seminar titled, “Instrumental Value: The Transformative Power of Music.” Nearly 60 people from 23 countries traveled to Salzburg where we met for four days to discuss the ways that music contributes to individuals, societies and cultures. Participants were musicians, composers, presenters, music educators, policymakers, funders and patrons, neuroscientists, and others who’ve spent a lifetime in the music field. Lively discussions about the intrinsic value of music, about music and youth development, music and creativity, music and spirituality, and music and the brain occupied us for days and nights, fueled by the beauty of the unfolding alpine spring and by the musical history of the city of Salzburg.

By the end of our session we agreed to issue a statement asserting our shared belief that music “is a proven gateway to engaged citizenship, personal development and well-being” and that “the inspiration and rewards unleashed by music are universal benefits that must be available to all as a human right.” Here is the full text of our statement, along with the signatories. Please share it with those in a position to ensure continued access to music education and participation.

“The Value of Music: The Right to Play”

“The Salzburg Global Seminar meeting on The Transformative Power of Music believes that music is a proven gateway to engaged citizenship, personal development and well-being. Only through urgent and sustained action can we foster a new generation of energised, committed, self-aware, creative and productive members of society.

” The inspiration and rewards unleashed by music are universal benefits that must be available to all as a human right. All children from the earliest age should have the opportunity to:

“Best practice models exist around the world, which show how this can be achieved.

“The future of music education is at risk. Our youth deserves an immediate commitment to music as part of the core education curriculum. There must be funding for youth music programs as part of a healthy and diverse society. We call on all governments, politicians, international agencies, educators, funders, and citizens to:

• assert the essential place of music in schools,

• support the development of new pathways for young musical talent,

• ensure that organisations offering these opportunities to young people are sustained and developed, and

• foster co-ordination between private and public agencies for support.”

Signed here by Fellows of the Salzburg Global Seminar 479 on April 5, 2011:

Comments

There is an interesting irony in the conference’s general thesis: “The inspiration and rewards unleashed by music are universal benefits that must be available to all as a human right.”

The Vienna Philharmonic forbade membership to women until international protests forced to accept them in 1997. In the 14 years since then, the orchestra has only hired 4 women, while about 60 men have been engaged.

The orchestra also has a long tradition of excluding people who are not Caucasian, because it feels such individuals would destroy the ensemble’s image of Austrian purity. To this day, the VPO is one of the few major orchestras in the world that still does not have a single member that is visibly a non-Caucasian. (In fact, it might now be the only one.) Until the VPO (which is the national orchestra of Austria) hires more women and some visible members of racial minorities, there will be a very irony in grand statements made there about the rewards of music being universal right.

We might also look at that impressive list of signatories and ask if even one of them mentioned the problems with the VPO. Or did they prefer to look the other way with classical music’s usual genteel discretion? This would appear to be bourgeois hypocrisy at its finest!

For more details about the orchestra’s employment practices here are a few articles:

William, I’m confused why your post is accusing the signers of this document as perpetrating an act of “bourgeois hypocrisy “?

This article addresses a manifesto put together by the attendees of Salzburg Global Seminar, not the VPO (unless they are somehow connected?). How could they be accused of hypocrisy or of turning a blind eye, when we don’t know what other topics or issues were discussed at the conference that lead to the release of this manifesto? I venture to guess that it’s exactly this kind of manifesto that they hope will lead to changes in the policies of the VPO and other institutions who share their backward ideology.

If you have reasons for making these accusations please explain, otherwise it does come across to myself and others as just an attack. I don’t believe this was your intention and I would be interested to hear if you have more information that could clarify your position.

R. Davis, my apologies for the massively delayed response. Yours came a week after my post. This site doesn’t send email updates about responses, so I had no idea any one had responded.

If Austrians and their government wanted to change the VPO’s racist and sexist employment practices they would. The issuance of a manifesto about the universal right to music-making coming out of Austria is thus smacks of hypocrisy and window-dressing.

Can you name a single conductor or soloist who has refused to work with the VPO due to its sexism and racism? Its time for classical music to end its hypocritical silence about the worst offenders and those who collaborate with them. If the delegates wanted to genuinely champion the universal right to music-making, then why didn’t they point out the world’s worst offender, the VPO, sitting there right under their noses?

Manifestos will have little effect if we lack the courage and honesty to *openly* hold orchestras like the VPO accountable for their sexism and racism.

Educators MUST develop and create new ways to reach ALL sectors of the population. While we have been begging for our very lives to keep school music programs in tact, we have for the most part completely ignored large segments of the population who would enjoy and benefit from our expertise – and the entire profession is to blame. Our profession can surely benefit form entrepreneurial thinkers like these: http://www.dlpseniors.infohttp://www.dlphomeschoolers.infohttp://www.discoverlearnandplay.com

Consider this my signature. Music, the human awareness and comprehension of the transformative nature of sounds and silences, is instinctively present and potentially instrumental in every person; every social organization should recognize its importance and work to affirm it.

Sarah Lutman

I am a Twin Cities-based independent consultant and writer working with cultural, philanthropic and public media organizations across the United States. You can read my entire bio on LinkedIn or read about current clients and projects on the Lutman & Associates web site.

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